External cabling

[Chit]

Hi all, a bit of advise required.....

my parents have a detatched garage at the back of the garden. it has power going to it via an old style fuse box from the house.

I think a rat or something has chewed through the plastic sheething and electric cable which runs to the garage on top of a garden wall and caused the electrics to fail.

Now to run a new wire from the fuse box to the garage would be quite a job as the house is already decorated etc and so my parents would rather not have to drill and chase walls to let through electric cables.

Any ideas on what best to do?

Secondly, there is an external WC in the garden through which the cabling to the garage currently runs. Is there any specification of switch/CU which can be fitted in a WC so that I could use the current cable up to this point and then change the rest of the cable from here on?

Many thanks.

 

[ricicle]

If the damage is external to the house then the cable can be joined on to where it leaves the house using an approriate enclosure. The use of steel wire armoured cable is virtually a must for any external cabling.
Also supplies to external buildings/structures/equipment is usually best left to a professional unless you are 100% sure what you are doing.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Chit - you really should get an electrician to look at it.

Thing which immediately spring to mind are that you've clearly got an inappropriate cable badly installed, you've probably got no RCD protection on the circuit(s) in the garage, the cable sizing needs to be checked, there are important tests which should be done including earth continuity and fault loop impedance, and there may be issues of exporting the supply earth to the outbuilding(s) anyway.

Read more here - it's not as simple as just joining, or sticking in a new length of cable:

• 
  
  
  
• http://www.iee.org/Publish/WireRegs...matters_electrical_installations_outdoors.pdf
  
  
• http://www.theiet.org/publishing/wiring-regulations/mag/2005/16-elect-inst-outdoors.cfm?type=pdf
  
  
• http://electrical.theiet.org/wiring-matters/16/elect-inst-outdoors.cfm?type=pdf
  
  
• //www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:mcbtocable
  
  
• http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Book/4.3.1.htm (all subsections)
  
  
• http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Book/4.3.11.htm
  
  
• http://web.archive.org/web/20080213151445/http://www.kevinboone.com/cableselection_web.pdf
  
  
• http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/Charts/VoltageDrop.html
  
  
• http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Book/5.3.1.htm
  
  
• //www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:mcb2
  
  
• http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Book/7.13.3.htm
  
  
• http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Book/8.1.1.htm
  
  
• //www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:swa-gland
  
  
• //www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:part-p
  

 

[Chit]

Thanks for that all, it's literally a twin and earth which leaves the back of the house, goes through the adjoining outside WC, out the other side, along the top of an approximately 7ft high wall, into the garage. Powers all of 2 double sockets. the total run of the cable from the back of the house to the garage is approximately 6 meters.

I've got some metal pipe through which I will now pass the cable instead of the plastic one. Will also earth this pipe.

What i was wondering though was is there any type of switch that can be used in a WC so that the garage can be isolated in case the electrics in there need to be worked on in future?

Thanks again.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Does the "metal pipe" comply with the standards for electrical conduit?

How will you earth it?

How will you test that the earthing is sound?

Why won't you install the right sort of cable?

How will you test that the new or repaired cable has a low enough fault loop impedance?

Is there an RCD on that circuit?

Do you have a TN-C-S supply?

If you have a switch in the WC to isolate the garage if the electrics there need to be worked on how will you isolate the supply to the switch if that needs to be worked on?

 

[Chit]

Does the "metal pipe" comply with the standards for electrical conduit?

How will you earth it?

How will you test that the earthing is sound?

Why won't you install the right sort of cable?

How will you test that the new or repaired cable has a low enough fault loop impedance?

Is there an RCD on that circuit?

Do you have a TN-C-S supply?

If you have a switch in the WC to isolate the garage if the electrics there need to be worked on how will you isolate the supply to the switch if that needs to be worked on?

Maybe I'll just get an electrician in instead.....